watch this Libyan air force 'no longer exists' - Africa - Al Jazeera English
Libya's air force "no longer exists as a fighting force" following devastating air strikes by international coalition forces, a British military officer has claimed.
The claim came as fierce fighting continued on the ground on Wednesday as forces loyal to embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi continued their offensive against anti-government rebels across the north African state.
Addressing journalists at an air base in southern Italy, from which Royal Air Force (RAF) warplanes have been operating, Air Vice Marshall Greg Bagwell said international coalition forces could operate with impunity over Libya.
"Effectively, [Libya's] air force no longer exists as a fighting force," said Bagwell. "And his [Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's] integrated air defence system and command and control networks are severely degraded to the point that we can operate over his airspace with impunity," he said.
Bagwell said US, French and British forces involved in the strikes that began on Saturday had "taken away (Gaddafi's) eyes and ears" and "destroyed the majority of his air force".
Bagwell said coalition forces were also targeting Gaddafi's ground forces.
"We have the Libyan ground forces under constant observation and we attack them whenever they threaten or attack civilians or population centres," he said.
The US military confirmed this on Wednesday, saying ground troops loyal to Gaddafi who are threatening rebel-held cities are now being targeted by coalition airstrikes.
"We are putting pressure on Gaddafi's ground forces that are threatening cities," Rear Admiral Gerard Hueber, US chief of staff for the Libya mission, said.
He also said that the coalition no-fly zone now stretches across all of coastal Libya.
Hueber said that Gaddafi's military remains in violation of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to attacks on civilians, with fighting reported in several cities.
Enforcement of the no-fly zone has so far been carried out primarily by French, American and British forces but confusion over the command structure for the operation continued on Wednesday as NATO member states failed to agree on a role for the military alliance after a third day of talks.
Fierce fighting continues
Undaunted by air strikes launched by coalition warplanes aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone, pro-Gaddafi forces pressed ahead with their assaults on the towns of Misurata, Ajdabiya and Zintan in the past 24 hours.
Pro-democracy fighters ranged against Gaddafi are finding the going tough.
Mostly outgunned and with little command structure, they have been left to run sporadic raids against Gaddafi's troops, before falling back to their original lines.
"On the ground, the situation in [city of] Ajdabiya is that there have been some air strikes there by western powers, but they haven't managed to dislodge Gaddafi's tanks," Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the eastern city of Benghazi, said.
"In [the town of] Misurata at least 23 people have been killed in recent hours. The opposition is asking for international medical help. They are asking for a medical ship to come to the port, they say Gaddafi controls the hospital there."
Reuters news agency quoted a doctor there saying government tanks were closing in on the hospital and shelling the area.
Meanwhile, as night fell in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Wednesday, locals said they heard eight explosions in the east of the city and saw smoke rising into the night sky, Reuters reported.
Amid raging fighting, Gaddafi insisted he was "ready for battle, be it long or short".
"We will win this battle," he said in an address during a public appearance at his Bab Al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli that was the target on Sunday of a coalition missile strike, Libyan state television reported.
He also railed against the coalition forces, saying: "This assault ... is by a bunch of fascists who will end up in the dustbin of history."
Opposition forms 'interim government'
Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, Libya's pro-democracy fighters formed an "interim government", headed by Mahmoud Jibril, who had been working as a representative to foreign powers.
He is best known on the international stage
for meeting Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, which led to France diplomatically recognising the rebels' transitional council as the sole representative of the Libyan people.
Opposition spokesman Nisan Gouriani told Al Jazeera: "The provisional national council is a legislative body, but we need an executive body to take control and provide an administration."
He said the rebels' "position has been very clear from the beginning - that Libya is one unit".
"Our capital is Tripoli and will forever be Tripoli," he said. "We are striving to liberate the western parts of the country, and Tripoli, and keep the country united. We would like to emphasise this over and over again."
The rebels had been wary of calling their nascent administration in their Benghazi stronghold an interim government seemingly cautious of signifying a split in the country.
"But they remain committed to one Libya," our correspondent said. "They want the people of Libya to remain united, just without Gaddafi."
The claim came as fierce fighting continued on the ground on Wednesday as forces loyal to embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi continued their offensive against anti-government rebels across the north African state.
Addressing journalists at an air base in southern Italy, from which Royal Air Force (RAF) warplanes have been operating, Air Vice Marshall Greg Bagwell said international coalition forces could operate with impunity over Libya.
"Effectively, [Libya's] air force no longer exists as a fighting force," said Bagwell. "And his [Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's] integrated air defence system and command and control networks are severely degraded to the point that we can operate over his airspace with impunity," he said.
Bagwell said US, French and British forces involved in the strikes that began on Saturday had "taken away (Gaddafi's) eyes and ears" and "destroyed the majority of his air force".
Bagwell said coalition forces were also targeting Gaddafi's ground forces.
"We have the Libyan ground forces under constant observation and we attack them whenever they threaten or attack civilians or population centres," he said.
The US military confirmed this on Wednesday, saying ground troops loyal to Gaddafi who are threatening rebel-held cities are now being targeted by coalition airstrikes.
"We are putting pressure on Gaddafi's ground forces that are threatening cities," Rear Admiral Gerard Hueber, US chief of staff for the Libya mission, said.
He also said that the coalition no-fly zone now stretches across all of coastal Libya.
Hueber said that Gaddafi's military remains in violation of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to attacks on civilians, with fighting reported in several cities.
Enforcement of the no-fly zone has so far been carried out primarily by French, American and British forces but confusion over the command structure for the operation continued on Wednesday as NATO member states failed to agree on a role for the military alliance after a third day of talks.
Fierce fighting continues
Undaunted by air strikes launched by coalition warplanes aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone, pro-Gaddafi forces pressed ahead with their assaults on the towns of Misurata, Ajdabiya and Zintan in the past 24 hours.
Pro-democracy fighters ranged against Gaddafi are finding the going tough.
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"On the ground, the situation in [city of] Ajdabiya is that there have been some air strikes there by western powers, but they haven't managed to dislodge Gaddafi's tanks," Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the eastern city of Benghazi, said.
"In [the town of] Misurata at least 23 people have been killed in recent hours. The opposition is asking for international medical help. They are asking for a medical ship to come to the port, they say Gaddafi controls the hospital there."
Reuters news agency quoted a doctor there saying government tanks were closing in on the hospital and shelling the area.
Meanwhile, as night fell in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Wednesday, locals said they heard eight explosions in the east of the city and saw smoke rising into the night sky, Reuters reported.
Amid raging fighting, Gaddafi insisted he was "ready for battle, be it long or short".
"We will win this battle," he said in an address during a public appearance at his Bab Al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli that was the target on Sunday of a coalition missile strike, Libyan state television reported.
He also railed against the coalition forces, saying: "This assault ... is by a bunch of fascists who will end up in the dustbin of history."
Opposition forms 'interim government'
Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, Libya's pro-democracy fighters formed an "interim government", headed by Mahmoud Jibril, who had been working as a representative to foreign powers.
for meeting Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, which led to France diplomatically recognising the rebels' transitional council as the sole representative of the Libyan people.
Opposition spokesman Nisan Gouriani told Al Jazeera: "The provisional national council is a legislative body, but we need an executive body to take control and provide an administration."
He said the rebels' "position has been very clear from the beginning - that Libya is one unit".
"Our capital is Tripoli and will forever be Tripoli," he said. "We are striving to liberate the western parts of the country, and Tripoli, and keep the country united. We would like to emphasise this over and over again."
The rebels had been wary of calling their nascent administration in their Benghazi stronghold an interim government seemingly cautious of signifying a split in the country.
"But they remain committed to one Libya," our correspondent said. "They want the people of Libya to remain united, just without Gaddafi."
BENGHAZI, Libya — NATO ships began patrolling off Libya's coast Wednesday as airstrikes, missiles and energized rebels forced Moammar Gadhafi's tanks to roll back from two key western cities, including one that was the hometown of army officers who tried to overthrow him in 1993.
Libya's opposition took haphazard steps to form a government in the east, as they and the U.S.-led force protecting them girded for prolonged and costly fighting. Despite disorganization among the rebels – and confusion over who would ultimately run the international operation – coalition airstrikes and missiles seemed to thwart Gadhafi's efforts to rout his opponents, at least for now.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged there is no clear end to the international military enforcement of the no-fly zone over Libya, but President Barack Obama said it "absolutely" will not lead to a U.S. land invasion.
From Ajdabiya in the east to Misrata in the west, the coalition's targets included Libyan troops' mechanized forces, mobile surface-to-air missile sites and lines of communications that supply "their beans and their bullets," said Rear Adm. Gerard Hueber, a top U.S. officer in the campaign in Libya.
A doctor in Misrata said Gadhafi's tanks fled after the airstrikes, giving a much-needed reprieve to the besieged coastal city, which is inaccessible to human rights monitors or journalists. The airstrikes struck the aviation academy and a vacant lot outside the central hospital, the doctor said.
"Today, for the first time in a week, the bakeries opened their doors," the doctor said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals if Gadhafi's forces take Libya's third-largest city, 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli.
Neither the rebels nor Gadhafi has mustered the force for an outright victory, raising concerns of a prolonged conflict.
Gates said no one was ever under any illusion that the assault would last just two or three weeks. He had no answer when asked about a possible stalemate if Gadhafi hunkers down, and the coalition lacks U.N. authorization to target him.
Obama, when asked about an exit strategy during an interview with the Spanish-language network Univision, didn't lay out a vision for ending the international action, but rather said: "The exit strategy will be executed this week in the sense that we will be pulling back from our much more active efforts to shape the environment."
The administration wants others to lead the way soon: Gates said the U.S. could relinquish control as soon as Saturday. Members of the coalition, however, were still divided over the details.
In a compromise proposal, NATO would be guided by a political committee of foreign ministers from the West and the Arab world. But NATO nations remained deadlocked over the alliance's possible role in enforcing the U.N.-authorized no-fly zone.
NATO warships, meanwhile, started patrolling Wednesday to enforce the U.N. arms embargo against Libya. Alliance spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said the action was to "cut off the flow of arms and mercenaries," activity that intelligence reports say is continuing.
Six vessels were involved the first day, and Canada's Brig. General Pierre St. Amand said 16 ships have been offered by NATO members. Five are from Turkey, the organization's sole Muslim member.
Missiles fired from submarines in the Mediterranean, bombs dropped by B-2 stealth bombers and an array of airstrikes easily totaled hundreds of millions of dollars by the fifth day of the coalition campaign.
Hueber told Pentagon reporters by phone from the U.S. command ship in the Mediterranean Sea that international forces were attacking government troops that have been storming population centers. On Wednesday evening, Libyan state television reported a "Crusader colonialist bombing targeting certain civil and military locations" in Tripoli's Tajoura district – scene of some of the heaviest past protests against Gadhafi.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Gadhafi can end the crisis quickly – by leaving power. She said the U.S. wants the Libyan government to "make the right decision" by instituting a cease-fire, withdrawing forces from cities and preparing for a transition that doesn't include the longtime dictator.
Some attacks by pro-Gadhafi forces continued in Misrata, where the doctor and rebel leaders said pro-Gadhafi snipers were firing on civilians from rooftops. Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga, a spokesman for the opposition forces, said 16 people were killed today, including five children.
Ghoga said people are being treated "in the hallways of buildings" because they did not dare go outside.
In Zintan, a city of 100,000 about 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Tripoli, a resident said Gadhafi's forces were shelling from the foot of a nearby mountain, but rebels forced their retreat from all but one side of the city. After five days of fighting, Ali al-Azhari said, rebel fighters captured or destroyed several tanks and seized trucks loaded with 1,200 Grad missiles and fuel tanks. They captured five Gadhafi troops.
Al-Azhari, who spoke to The Associated Press by phone from the city, said one officer told rebels he was ordered "to turn Zintan into a desert to be smashed and flattened." Resentment against Gadhafi runs high in Zintan because it was the hometown of many of the detained army officers who took part in a failed coup in 1993.
Ghoga said 16 people died Tuesday and Wednesday in Zintan, which has no electricity or landlines.
The withdrawal of the tanks from Misrata and Zintan was a rare success for the rebels, who are struggling daily against Gadhafi forces in the eastern gateway city of Ajdabiya. The disorganized opposition holds much of the east but has been unable to get back on the offensive despite the international air campaign that saved it from the brink of defeat.
Iman Bughaigis, a spokeswoman for the rebel force, said the tentative beginnings of an interim administration on Wednesday reflected the realization that they must organize. She said the leader of the governing body would be Mahmoud Jibril, a U.S.-educated planning expert who defected from the Gadhafi regime as the uprising gained momentum.
"At the beginning, we thought it would just take a week or two weeks" to depose Gadhafi, she said. "Now we know it will take time. We need a government to liberate the eastern territories. It was just because there was a vacuum. We don't have political experience. We are learning as the days go by. Now there is an understanding that we need a structure."
Details from the rebels were sketchy and sometimes contradictory. Ghoga said Jibril was appointed to lead the new body about a month ago, and that it cannot be called a government because rebels do not control the whole country. "This is a working body for an emergency period only," he said.
Gadhafi, meanwhile, was defiant in his first public appearance in a week late Tuesday.
State TV said he spoke from his Bab Al-Aziziya residential compound, the same one hit by a cruise missile Sunday night. "In the short term, we'll beat them, in the long term, we'll beat them," he said.
Libyan state TV showed footage it labeled as "the crusader imperialism bombs civilians" – a house that was demolished and burning. Weeping women slapped their faces and heads in grief while men carried a barefoot girl covered in blood on a stretcher to an ambulance. A man screamed "a whole family was killed."
Gadhafi's regime has alleged that dozens of civilians have been killed in the international bombardment. The Pentagon on Wednesday said there was no evidence of that.
Gates: 'It's Their Country'
According to Reuters, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters in Cairo that it is up to Libyans to settle matters in their country.
"It seems to me that if there is a mediation to be done, if there is a role to be played, it is among the Libyans themselves. This matter at the end of the day is going to have to be settled by Libyans. It's their country."
Read more here.
Newt Gingrich's 'Libya Flip-Flop'
The New York Times reports that Newt Gingrich has apparently changed his opinion on U.S. intervention in Libya.
On March 7th, Gingrich reportedly told Fox News that President Obama should establish a no-fly zone over Libya “this evening.”
Now, Gingrich has changed his tune. On NBC’s “Today” show Wednesday morning, he stated, “I think there were a lot of other ways to affect Gaddafi. I think there are a lot of other allies in the region we could have worked with. I would not have used American and European forces.”
Read the full story here.
WATCH: NBC Correspondent 'Hit The Deck'
"Hardball With Chris Matthews" interviews Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel, who was reporting on the rebel frontline in Libya when shots rang out and he quickly had to hit the ground.
WATCH:House Speaker Complains In Letter To Obama
CNN reports that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) complained in a letter to President Obama that only "limited, sometimes contradictory" information has been provided on the mission in Libya.
Boehner was most focused on asking: "What is your benchmark for success in Libya?"
He requested a clear assessment of the U.S.-led military mission, complaining that congressional leaders had not been properly consulted.
One source remarks that Boehner participated in a conference call Friday with Obama, and raised no questions about the Libyan mission. This could have been due to difficulty hearing on the noisy conference line.
Read the full report here.
WATCH: Gaddafi's Inner Circle Reaches Out To U.S.
According to CNN, members of Gaddafi's inner circle have reached out to the State Department and Arab world leaders. Elise Labott reports, "It's really not clear why these officials are calling. Are they defecting? Are they looking for a way out for themselves to abandon Col. Gaddafi?"
WATCH:Details On Pro-Gaddafi Attacks Near Hospital
CNN describes the alleged attacks by Gaddafi troops near a Misrata hospital on Wednesday.
One witness said that "heavy tanks for Gaddafi troops start attacking the hospital -- the bombs falling here 20 meters (66 feet) around us."
Although the shelling seems to have stopped, "all the teams here -- the doctors, the patients -- are paralyzed, scared."
The hospital is reportedly running on generator power, and ambulances are unable to leave.
Read more here.
Gaddafi Tanks Resume Attacks
Reuters reports that following Western strikes, Gaddafi's forces have resumed attacks on Misrata.
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